Say NO to SRO's
What is going on?
The negotiations between CRPD and the Cedar Rapids Community School Board regarding the School Resource Officers are not going well.
Even before the last board meeting, Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman had refused to give in on smaller matters like removing guns from the SRO's belts. He is now unwilling to let the two current middle school's officers be moved out, even suggesting they rotate into more schools and expose even more students to this conditioning.
We need fewer, not more students to have police enforcement in their learning environment being normalized in this way!
We agree with and want to ensure,
Every Learner, Future Ready!
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YOU CAN HELP!!
Please download this letter, personalize, and mail or email your school board representatives by to make sure your voices are heard.
Learn Why-
School Resource Officer Research
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Arrests:
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Students are more likely to be arrested in schools with SROs. Nationally, even when controlling for poverty, schools with an SRO have 5x the arrest rate for disorderly conduct as schools without an SRO.
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SROs are not supposed to be involved in discipline but half of principals nationally report they are. This converts normal student misbehavior (like disruption) into a crime (like disorderly conduct). 71% of complaints against Cedar Rapids students from 2015-20 were for simple misdemeanors like disorderly conduct that are subjective charges.
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Students who are arrested are more likely to drop out of school and later enter the criminal justice system as adults (the school-to-prison pipeline).
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Impact on students of color:
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1/4 of black and multi-racial students in CR said they feel uncomfortable or very uncomfortable and unsafe or very unsafe around their school SRO.
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From 2017-21 in CR: Black students have 4x the risk of white students of being arrested at school (even though nationally the data shows that white and black youth misbehave at roughly the same rate)
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Relationships:
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Research shows that SROs do not change students’ perceptions of the police or even delinquent behavior, so police presence in schools is not effective at building relationships.
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There is a conflict in the role of police saying students can trust and confide in them while police can use information to arrest students.
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Relationship building is best done by therapists/counselors/social workers and others with more extensive training in supporting students’ well-being.
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Safety:
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There is no evidence SROs make schools safer or decrease crime rates or deter school shootings.
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In a study of school shootings, 68 had an SRO and almost all incidents ended before police interceded. Once they shot and killed an active shooter. Most shootings target one or two victims and finish within seconds, leaving no time to intervene.
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If SROs were in schools for safety reasons, Cedar Rapids would have put them in all middle schools.
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Cost:
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The cost per SRO in Cedar Rapids is $138,000. Social workers, nurses, therapists, and restorative justice facilitators can provide services at a much lower cost.
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